evident that any attempt to get the ships to the westward must,
under circumstances so unfavourable, be attended with the certain
consequence of their being drifted the contrary way; and nothing
could therefore be done but still to watch, which we did most
anxiously, every alteration in the state of the ice. The wind,
however, decreasing as the night came on, served to diminish the
hopes with which we had flattered ourselves of being speedily
extricated from our present confined and dangerous situation.

The weather was foggy for some hours in the morning of the 11th,
but cleared up in the afternoon as the sun acquired power. The
wind increased to a fresh gale from the eastward at nine P.M.,
being the second time that it had done so while we had been lying
at this station; a circumstance which we were the more inclined to
notice, as the easterly winds had hitherto been more faint and
less frequent than those from the westward. In this respect,
therefore, we considered ourselves unfortunate, as experience had
already shown us that none but a westerly wind ever produced upon
this coast, or, indeed, on the southern coast of any of the North
Georgian Islands, the desired effect of clearing the shores of
ice.

The gale continued strong during the night, and the ice quite
stationary. Not a pool of clear water could be seen in any
direction, except just under the lee of our point, where there was
a space large enough to contain half a dozen sail of ships, till
about noon, when the whole closed in upon us without any apparent
cause, except that the wind blew in irregular puffs about that
time, and at one P.M. it was alongside. The ship was placed in the
most advantageous manner for taking the beach, or, rather, the